LETTER | The much anticipated Budget 2019 will be revealed next Friday.

Some parties will be looking forward to the budget speech and all that will follow – outlook on the economy and what’s in store for business as well as for ordinary Malaysians.

An introduction of a new tax will be dreaded, much less welcomed. Nonetheless, the fact that this Budget will be the first ever budget by a non-BN Finance Minister in the country’s history is news material in itself.

While the budget in all its significance should be of interest to all Malaysians, it should not be much of a headline as far as “economic” outlook of ordinary Malaysians is concerned.

Salary of average Malaysians can only be expected on a suppressed trajectory (as it has been for quite sometime now), cost of living can only goes up, house prices will not drop to affordable levels anytime soon and job prospects do not look rosy either.

The abundance of low-skilled foreign workers is here to stay. The trillion dollar debt is a good excuse for a gloomy outlook, but the realities of the time speak volume of the situation we would be in.

The fact is that there are no quick fixes to all these problems. With potential global economic slowdown in 2019 and tensions in the international arena – trade war and all, the climate is certainly not the one that can be associated with the good times.

Apart from the perturbation of tax in one form or another, a new revenue stream for the government is not expected anywhere in the immediate horizon.

Thus, a budget deficit (if we must) so as to spur growth has to be carefully managed in light of the current situation of public sector debts. Fiscal discipline could not be as relevant as ever.

Yes, we should leave all these to the experts but the public must be as conscious as ever. Scrutinise with substance if we must and yet allow the government of the day the space to operate effectively.

Perhaps more importantly is for us to take stock of what we have, reflect and strategise the way forward to build the country in the spirit of Malaysia Baru.

• How can we do things better and more effectively at work or at home?
• How can we lead our lifestyle in a more sustainable manner considering the scarce resources available at our disposal?
• How can we give better education to our children who will be the future of this country?
• How can we reduce food wastage?
• Why can’t we better utilise rainwater and sunlight?

These are some of the pertinent questions we should be asking, not only because we are not in the best shape, but because these are the right questions to ask. And these questions demand answers from all of us.

We can certainly put the blame on the new government as much as we can on the old government for the current predicament we are in. But the hard realities are here to stay. And yes, reality bites!

The writer is a public policy student at Universiti Malaya, a chartered engineer and Bandar Tun Razak Ikram chief.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.